Opening
Tuesday, October 15th, 6-9pm**
CHRISTOPHER CARTER
curated by Catherine Camargo
curated by Catherine Camargo
In this exhibition, Tethered Visions; Released Codes, Christopher Carter presents a series of never-before-seen works in lenticular photography, marking a shift from his usual sculptural medium. Lenticular photography, with roots in the 1800s through early stereoscopy, advanced in the early 1900s with the creation of lenticular lenses—tiny magnifying lenses placed over images to create illusions of depth, motion, or multiple perspectives.Like his large-scale sculptures,these photographs encourage viewers to engage with the work from various angles, enhancing the sense of depth and movement based on where one stands.
Christopher Carter has dedicated himself to crafting from a young age. His first "real gigs" after undergrad were in fabrication—storefronts, awnings, and commissioned murals for children's elementary schools. His artistic experience spans a wide range of techniques, including cell painting, crowquill, woodblock printing, and traditional craftsman skills he learned while studying abroad in Cortona, Italy in 1987,such as lost-wax bronze production, traditional bookmaking, and marble and alabaster carving. Carter has taught and lectured at multiple universities and served as the Art Director–primarily as storyboard artist and animator, of several entertainment and production companies. Though, he has always consistently maintained a studio practice parallel to his career path. Sustaining a space for his work has been vital, allowing him to explore which techniques best align with his ideas.
The physical weight of Carter's past sculptures, made from materials such as rope, wood, bronze, and rubber,conveys more than just the impact of their life-size scale; they act as markers of territory, emblems of history. The materials themselves carry inherent meaning,often incorporating literal artifacts of reclaimed history. For instance, in Abacus,2003, Carter repurposes raw wood flooring from a Depression-era home to create a mechanical device for numeric calculations.The "Abacus" is crafted from repurposed barn flooring salvaged from a foreclosed home in Silicon Valley (circa 2003), a product of the American Enron Scandal.This juxtaposition of materials presents a cynical contrast between a period of social & economic hardship and the rudimentary math of post-Enron America.
Detail of: Abacus,2003-2009,
63 x 36 x 6 inches
1.An ancient abacus, with its sliding beads, serves as a timeless
tool for counting and calculating, bridging the gap between simple arithmetic and complex mathematics.
2."Post-Enron America" refers to the period following the Enron Corporation's collapse in 2001, which revealed significant corporate fraud and accounting manipulation. This led to increased scrutiny of businesses, new regulations, and a loss of public trust in corporations. The phrase symbolizes a heightened awareness of corporate dishonesty and the demand for financial transparency.
2."Post-Enron America" refers to the period following the Enron Corporation's collapse in 2001, which revealed significant corporate fraud and accounting manipulation. This led to increased scrutiny of businesses, new regulations, and a loss of public trust in corporations. The phrase symbolizes a heightened awareness of corporate dishonesty and the demand for financial transparency.
Christopher Carter was born in Albuquerque, NM and was raised in Boston, MA. He currently lives and works in Miami, FL. Infused by a blend of ethnic and urban influences, Carter’s bold and organic sculptures strongly reflect his African American, Native American, and European heritage. His assemblages embody power and energy accentuated by the source materials he selects for his creations. Carter has an MFA in Sculpture from the University of California, Berkeley and a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). His work has been featured in numerous museum exhibitions, galleries and art fairs, and is included in private and public collections including the National Museum of African American History and Culture-Smithsonian in Washington, DC.
In addition to his extensive exhibition history, Christopher Carter is recognized for his contributions to the Miami community through The Carter Project/Foundation, a live/work/experiential space in Wynwood Norte.Designed by Carter himself,the property, where he and his wife Tracey reside, features a workspace equipped with an intaglio printing press, lathe, woodworking fabrication tools, and a commercial culinary kitchen. Blending eco-conscious design with artistic innovation,The Carter Project also serves as a curatorial retreat, hosting art installations, performances, panel discussions, and a variety of traditional and multimedia art forms.
”The idea of a hidden history informs my work. My sculptures are tombs of the modern urban landscape………comparisons and concepts are unearthed and explored, suggesting meaning and relevance when pushed to a physical form.”–CC
During conversations with Carter during studio visits and interviews leading up to this exhibition,it appeared important to Carter to share this specific new body of work.The innovative lenticular process marks a departure from the large-scale work familiar to his audience. He sought feedback on this approach, which was new, even for him. Upon entering the exhibition, you are greeted with the ambivalent yet alluring images lining the parallel walls, Tethered together by discrete magnets on leather engine baler belts the artist has been collecting in his backyard studio.
For years,Carter has made significant contributions to historical explorations of Blackness, strategically using materials to question entrenched national symbols and investigate concepts of freedom, identity, and otherness.His works act as tactical monuments, standing with their chests puffed out high like beautiful machines designed to reveal collective truths and expose cultural and systemic divisions rooted in the foundation of our country. Despite this, Carter remains humble about his ability to express the experiences of Black and Brown bodies through sculpture. Though physically lighter than his past works, this new series of lenticular images in Tethered Visions; Released Codes,carry the same conceptual weight and richness.
Carter describes the lenticular process as a balance between a new lack of control over the visual outcome and a newfound control over the viewer,compelling/instigating them to examine the perplexing images and reflections based on their own keen observations.In these pieces, Carter layers 6-8 original photographs,blending moments and settings to create visual complexity.For someone with a hand trained for meticulously working with wood carving,wood cut printing, metal,and marble,this process allows him a sense of fleeting autonomy– embracing imperfections. It is as though, in toying with a process whose outcome he could not fully premeditate or mold with his own hands and tools, he has ironically found a sense of freedom—the very freedom his sculptures have long conveyed.
–Catherine Camargo, Independent Curator,
Queue Gallery | Q Magazine Founder and Director.
Exhibition hosted by Edge Zones Gallery, Miami, FL, 2024. Opening